My friend Liz came by with her Xmas present, a 3.5 month old crossbreed called Buddy (a real American name), to socialize him and to have a play with my dogs. So, I let Froggies out to play. Since they are pups and very playful, things went divinely well and Buddy went home exhausted. Luckily they live a hop, skip and a jump away.....

So you can see that even a 3-month-old pup can get the upper hand with a Barbet. Froggie not being on the shy side, but decided it was best to lay low. They had a great time and our Buddy friend, did flatten the female and not the male...Interesting. Then, she got up, shook and off they went!That's a true Barbet character for you.

This is Floirac Déjà vue, she is an 8-month-old Barbet "old" type/ line authentic or whatever you want to call it( as long as it is a Barbet, not a poodle). She does not have a poodle coat nor does she have a Bichon Frisé coat, nor should she look like either of them. She has never been shaved, or trimmed. She will be trimmed soon, but never shaved.The puppy coat can get cut off because if you look at the roots, you will see the curls. No reason to aggress your dog by shaving it as it is an agression. Perhaps poodles and Bichons are shaved when they are young, but never oh never do you shave a Barbet. You live to regret it. I will post what my findings on that have been as a breeder who has had enough puppies to have an opinion on that.

There is a lot of false information circulating on Internet, in every domain and that is also the case about the Barbet. So, be very careful who your sources are and how experienced they say they are before you believe them. You may live to regret it for a long time. There are some real horrors around the world now and it's not going to stop unless you become Barbet-wise.

When you read the posts below, they do make you wonder what is going on, don't they.

We do know that the Barbet standard is going to be "modified" again in 2011, but most breeders haven't got a clue as to what has been decided by the only Barbet breeder at the club along with lagotto breeders ( +++) and a PWD breeder.What of course is important, is the fact that the word RUSTIC needs to be re-added to the standard...and that non- confirmation points such as tails over the back and morphology that has nothing to do with the breed standard, be enforced. But no one needs to ask anyone because no one needs to know. With no Breeding commission, most of what has been done throughout the history of the club, it has never been for the betterment of the breed but to get rid of the people one didn't want to work with. I am told it is the case in many clubs. Does that make it justifiable?

Advertised by a major French review: LA REVUE TECHNIQUE DU CHIEN,DEc/Jan issue A nice initiative by the British breed club for spaniels ( King Charles and the likes):Amateurs, breeders, and people "responsible" in the different clubs worldwide are meeting to discuss health problems and hereditary illnesses. The club is looking to coordinate the efforts of the participating clubs for the future of the breed and to make sure the breed continues to look like its ancestors.....ahhhhhhhhh, isn't that nice to know some care?